Planning a vacation to the Caribbean? Explore St. Maarten.

January 1, 2021
Activities

Visit Sint Maarten / Saint Martin, a tropical paradise with stunning beaches, fun activities and a busy night-life.St. Maarten / St. Martin is well known for its very short airport runway at Maho Beach where spectators can stand just behind a taking off jumbo jet only 30 feet away, its 20+ beaches situated around the island each with a different vibe and character.If you want to know what to do and see in St. Maarten / St. Martin, then this article is for you!To start off, the island sports an international airport and is a hotspot for tourists worldwide, luxury yachts and A-list celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Britney Spears, Nicolas Cage, Bill Gates and the list just goes on…St. Maarten / St. Martin is a Caribbean haven with a laid back atmosphere that mingles with the excitement of gambling where the rich and famous play and try their luck in over twenty casinos throughout the island, the Las Vegas of the Caribbean.The island is also a favorite spot for families with so many calm watered beaches such as Galion Beach or Orient Bay with floating trampolines for the kids, parasailing for anyone brave enough, waverunners for the speed addicts and best of all, great restaurants with menus large enough to please the parents but also the toddlers. Head to beautiful Mullet Bay beach and enjoy the BBQ ribs dished out by local shack restaurants, a very popular Sunday choice. If you feel like shopping but want to hit the beach too, head over to Philipsburg. You won’t be disappointed by the hundreds of shops just off the beach.For the curious, stop by the Simpson Bay Yacht Club for a drink next to the Dutch side draw bridge where the most luxurious super yachts squeeze their way through a narrow gap to enter or leave the Simpson Bay Lagoon. A true spectacle, some manoeuvers are very tricky especially when windy.For the ladies, all shopping is duty free so hit the jewelry stores immediately! But make sure you negotiate the price of any item you are buying in a jewelry store or electronics store, it is custom practice in SXM. You will also be pleased to know that alcohol is very cheap on island so no need to import by plane.If heading to Cupecoy beach or Orient Bay beach, be prepared to glimpse nudity as it is a common practice at those beaches, heritage from the French! There is a very popular full nudist resort, Club Orient, at the far end of Orient beach.As the sun starts to sink, make you way to the many beach bars around the island for stunning sunsets and a last minute dip into the ocean.As the evening settles into place, drive over to Grand-Case, the gourmet capital of the Caribbean located on the French side of Saint Martin. There is a choice of over 100 restaurants serving all kinds of specialties, from high end French extraordinary cuisine to the local “Lolos” barbecuing tasty ribs, fish and lobster, local style! This is a must and can be very romantic for all couples out there.For the night owls, St. Maarten / St. Martin becomes an entire different world at night with so many choices that range from pubs, beach bars, piano bars, nightclubs (Indoor and outdoor), after hour clubs, Casinos (Alcohol is on the house when you play in just about every casino) and strip clubs. You are guaranteed an exciting and very hot night out.As the sun starts to rise again, the vacation must go on! Explore all the beaches, you can find them on this map here.Or enjoy the many tours and activities available such as Scuba diving on the many reefs around the island (Sharks, turtles, Moray eels, parrot fish and lobster are just some of the species often spotted while exploring the underwater world), race on real 12 meter sailboats in Philipsburg, take a full day sail around the island on a comfortable catamaran and stop by deserted islands like Tintamarre (Absolutely stunning) and Creole Rock, relax during a chilled out dinner cruise down St. Maarten’s coast, try a sunset champagne cruise, for the not so shy there are great clothing optional trips, snorkeling tours to shallow reefs, for party goers there is an awesome lagoon catamaran pub crawl or take a catamaran tour to neighboring islands such as Prickly Pear in Anguilla. It is highly recommended to take a tour that sails around SXM to see the island from a different perspective while sipping a rum punch and enjoying the sun.You can also grab a ferry to the neighboring islands, St. Barth’s, Anguilla and Saba and be back in St. Maarten / St. Martin the same day.Throughout the year, there are famous events that take place that you should definitely try to make such as the Heineken Regatta, Billfish tournament and carnival for some great parties and fun.All in all, we can guarantee that if you visit the friendly island of Sint Maarten / Saint Martin, you won’t get bored.It will be one of the most exciting vacations of your life.We hope you found this article helpful and wish you safe travels.

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